While Dongwu and Cao Cao are busy fighting each other, Liu Bei expands his sphere of influence.

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Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 64.

Last time, Zhou Yu had defeated Cao Ren’s forces and was just about to celebrate by walking into his newly captured city of Nanjun when lo and behold, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang beat him to the punch and captured the city while he was busy defeating the enemy. Not only that, Zhuge Liang also took the opportunity to capture two other key locations, Jing Province and Xiangyang, without much effort. Zhou Yu was incensed, but before he could get around to launching an attack against Liu Bei, he was ordered by his master, Sun Quan, to return home and send reinforcements to help Sun Quan with his siege on the city of Hefei (2,2), which was under Cao Cao’s control.

We’ll leave Dongwu’s campaign for now and turn our attention to Liu Bei, who was riding high after capturing three strongholds in Jing Province. After all, it had been a long, long time since he had tasted so much success. But he wasn’t about to rest on his laurels. Instead, he started to talk with his staff about their next step.

One of Liu Bei’s old acquaintances now came in to offer some advice. It was Yi (1) Ji (2), the guy who twice saved Liu Bei from plots to kill him when he was seeking refuge in Jing Province. Liu Bei was quite happy to see Yi (1) Ji (2) and showed him a great deal of deference, offering him a seat as they talked.

“My lord, if you wish to know what your grand plan for Jing Province should be, why not seek out talented men and ask them?” Yi Ji said.

“Where might I find such men?”

“The Ma (3) family of Jing Province has five brothers, all of whom are well known. The youngest is named Ma (3) Su (4). The eldest and most talented is named Ma Liang (2). He has white hairs in his eyebrows. There’s a saying around these parts: ‘Of the five Ma brothers, the best is the white brow.’ Why not seek him out for advice?”

 

So Liu Bei sent someone to invite Ma Liang, and when he arrived, Liu Bei treated him with respect and asked him for advice on maintaining control of Jing Province.

“The province is surrounded by enemies on all sides,” Ma Liang said. “It is a difficult place to defend long term. You can leave Liu Qi here to recover from his illness and recruit members of his former staff to help defend the province. Send a memorial to the emperor asking that Liu Qi be made the imperial protector of Jing Province so as to make the people feel secure. Then, march south and conquer the counties of Wuling (3,2), Changsha (2,1), Guiyang (4,2), and Lingling (2,2). Use their wealth and grains as your foundation. This is a plan for the long run.”

Liu Bei was delighted by this idea and asked Ma Liang which of the four counties he should attack first.

“Lingling (2,2) is the closest and can be taken first,” Ma Liang answered. “Then take Wuling (3,2), followed by Guiyang (4,2) and finally Changsha (2,1).”

 

Liu Bei then appointed Ma Liang as the assistant to the imperial protector, with Yi Ji serving as the assistant to the assistant. He and Zhuge Liang then decided to send Liu Qi back to Xiangyang and summon Guan Yu, who was presently stationed in Xiangyang, to Jing Province. Once he was there, they put him in charge of defending Jing Province,